Tag: protesters

Gay Pride in Bakersfield

On By Michel McDonaldIn gay prideLeave a comment

I had no idea that Bakersfield ever participated in Gay Pride until a week ago when I received an email from the Human Rights Campaign asking me if I wanted to volunteer.

“Of course I want to volunteer” was my first thought.

I got on AIM and told our good friend Venda that I would volunteer if she would volunteer, of course I was going to do it anyway, I just wanted to see if she would do it too lol.

She agreed that she would do it so I sent her the email from HRC so she could sign up.

You know it’s funny, I haven’t been to a gay pride in years.  The first and last time I ever went to gay pride was when I was 23 years old and that was in West Hollywood.  They had a parade and then they had like this fair afterwards with these booths where you walk around from booth to booth getting free stickers and what not.

The reason it has taken me this long is because when I lived in Hollywood, we just never had the money to go anywhere and then we moved here and we just figured that Bakersfield would never have a gay pride.  Well, they do now.

I’ve never volunteered for this kind of thing so I can’t wait for tomorrow.  It’s like Disneyland but the only mice you will find are really bears.

At first I thought I should be worried about protesters but it doesn’t matter, they can suck an egg for all I care.  I’m not even going to waste my time thinking about them or waste any of the fun I’m going to have when I’m handing out whatever it is I will be handing out.

If you are in Bakersfield Saturday October 15th, come see me at Stramler Park between 1-4pm.  I’ll be the bald guy with the glasses.

Boycotting The Bahamas

On By Michel McDonaldIn Anti-Gay, BoycottLeave a comment

Last night HBO had the Rosie Cruise documentary called All Aboard.  I don’t know the exact title.  Anyway, I watched it and I was close to tears through most of it because I was just so happy for all of those gay families that they could have kids, this one family was these 2 gay men with 5 kids.  I just thought that was so great.

The main reason I was close to tears and in some cases I was tearing is because when my mom confronted me about being gay when I was 17 just before she kicked me out of the house, she told me “Do me a favor, don’t ever have kids”.  What a cruel thing to say.  It touched my heart that these people are able to have children and their teenage kids stand up for their parents and they don’t let anyone give them shit.

The cruise started out in New York and they went all the way to the Bahamas and back.  When they got to Key West Florida, not only did they have out the welcome mat but they had a parade for them.  But as soon as they got to the Bahamas they were met by protesters from the Bahama churches.

Now I realize that those protesters do not represent the whole of the Bahamas but seeing that turnout turns me off.  I will never ever in my life go to the Bahamas knowing there are that many homophobes running around allowed to breed.  And I would expect that anyone who is gay would boycott this place.

There are lots of other places you can go like Jamaica or heck, Florida.  Who really needs to go to the Bahamas that bad when we have beaches in our own country.  Heck I would go to Venice Beach over going to the Bahamas any day.  At least in Venice Beach you got muscle men working out in full view of everyone and best of all you are keeping your money local.

My cousin got married in the Bahamas the day before my birthday and I was invited to go but I didn’t have the money.  I wanted to go, I would’ve loved to spend my birthday in the Bahamas but I’m glad now that I didn’t go because I was able to see their true colors thanks to the Rosie cruise.